Rajinder Kaur Bhattal slams Capt for campaigning

Former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal on Thursday criticised state Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh for addressing public meetings of Shiromani Akali-Delhi chief Paramjit Singh Sarna, saying that participating in religious affairs as a party man was against the Congress' spirit of secularism.

"Capt Amarinder Singh owes an explanation on whether he campaigned as a Congress leader or in his personal capacity," Bhattal said in a statement here, sharply reacting to Wednesday's rally presided over by Amarinder during campaigning in the Capital for the upcoming Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections.

She said all Congress cadres actively participating in the DSGMC poll campaign were accountable for an explanation for such activities. However, there has been no diktat from the Congress high command so far for party leaders against campaigning in the DSGMC polls.

On the Moga assembly byelection, Bhattal said the Congress would not have faced the People's Party of Punjab (PPP) as another rival, apart from the SAD, if Amarinder had agreed to an electoral alliance with the PPP-led Sanjha Morcha in the 2012 assembly elections.

The Punjab Congress chief had recently announced that he would approach the PPP for withdrawing its candidate for the byelection.